Battlefront Limited Edition D&D Minis

Battlefront/Gale Force 9 has announced the expansion of their license to produce official D&D tokens and vinyl maps to now produce limited edition sets of resin miniatures.

The production runs limited to between 1500 and 2000 units and will range in price between $35 and $50.

I've noticed two basic camps on this issue. One is the obvious, "Squeeee! Me wants now!" group, and the other complains about the pricing and limited edition nature. It may come as a surprise, but I find the latter group to be complete idiots.

First off, the minis themselves:

And there's also a Purple Worm that I didn't post.

So let's look at the first box set, the Drow War Party.

• They're 30mm+ figs in resin.
• They're official D&D minis
• They're freakin' Drow.

This is the only set where I think a run of 2,000 might be too low. Ten bucks a fig for limited edition quality resin isn't too far fetched. I see enough poorly sculpted metal going for much more.

Need I remind everyone that one of the most successful limited editions was the infamous Ral Partha Slave Auction. I had always thought that the run of 5,000 sold out, yet I discovered that Iron Wind Metals later re-released it around 2005, but only kept than run limited to the few hundred official certificates that weren't initially used. And shrink wrapped copies of the Partha run can still be found on certain store shelves today.

Yes, this is official D&D product, and these are not of an adult nature, but Battlefront is also limiting there release to only select stores across the country. I'm assuming that these are well established Battlefront direct retailers in good standing who are contractually forbidden from opening up the shipping packaging throwing every set on eBay for $100.

If you aren't interested in official minis or limited editions, don't buy the stuff! There are plenty of cheaper alternatives. If this is how Battlefront can maximize profits with the fewest licensing headaches, I can't fault then one bit.

http://www.gf9.com/ for more info.